EGARC's Instructional Technology Blog

Educational technology news and events

Zamzar is an online file conversion tool that allows you to convert video/audio files, images, text documents without needing to download any software. Simply upload the file you would like to convert, choose the format …

This video on Vimeo, created by albertocvr, is an amazing look at La Sagrada Familia in Barceloa, Spain. By using time-lapse technology and drone aerial techniques, he created a high quality video of La Sagrada …

Zamzar is an online file conversion tool that allows you to convert video/audio files, images, text documents without needing to download any software. Simply upload the file you would like to convert, choose the format you want to convert your file to, and type in your email. The Zamzar site will email you with a link that can be used to download your converted file. Popular conversions include PDF to Word, MP4 to MP3, WAV to MP3, DOCX to Word, and JPG to PNG. The free version restricts file uploads to 100MB, but Zamzar also offers premium paid accounts that support larger file sizes, online storage, concurrent conversions and more.

This video on Vimeo, created by albertocvr, is an amazing look at La Sagrada Familia in Barceloa, Spain. By using time-lapse technology and drone aerial techniques, he created a high quality video of La Sagrada Familia from innovative and unique viewpoints.

Google Night Walk is an interactive mash-up of Google Maps, pictures, music, YouTube videos, and much more. You are led through the Cours Julien, a neighborhood of Marseille, at night. Julie de Mur, creator of another great French site Promenades sonores, is your tour guide, and French production designer Christophe Perruch narrates what you see as you explore. The entire interface is available in both English and French.

Miro Video Converter is a free, open-source software program that lets you effortlessly convert video files from one file type to another. You simply drag and drop a video file (or multiple since it supports batch conversions) into the program, select the format you want to convert to, and press a Convert button. It’s that easy. Common video types supported include MP4, H264, MOV, WMV, AVI, XVID, FLV, MKV. Miro Video Converter also has presets that will convert your video to the correct sizes and formats for popular media devices (e.g., iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy Note, etc.). It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux

Feedly is an RSS (really simple syndication) feed reader, and the one I personally chose to adopt after Google Reader retired on July 1, 2013. In addition to having a clean-looking web-based application, Feedly offers free iOS and Android apps to download and install so you can read all of your news and blog feeds using any of your devices.

Clipping Magic is an online image editing tool that allows you to “magically” remove the background from your images. There are apps available for iOS and Android that also do this, but Clipping Magic is the first website I’ve seen that can be used from any desktop machine.

First, upload your image (by dragging and dropping it onto the website or clicking on the Choose File button. The left-hand side is your mark-up area; the right-hand side will show you a preview of how your image will look.

Next, select the green plus sign button at the top of the screen and draw lines on the objects in the foreground. You don’t need to be precise at this stage. Then, use the red minus sign button at the top of the screen to draw lines on the background (or the area of the image you want to remove). Remember that the right-hand side of the screen shows you a preview of what your new image will look like. Keep swapping back and forth between the green plus sign button and the red minus sign button to fine tune the edges of the objects in the foreground and the background.

When you are finished, click on the Download button to save your image in PNG format. Clipping Magic will also provide you with a link that you can send others if you would prefer to avoid sending large image files via email.

Bit.ly is a website that allows you to shorten URL or website links. Simply copy and paste a long or unwieldy link into the white text box at the top and click on the Shorten button. If you sign up for a free account, you can do even more with Bit.ly like keep track of all of the links that you have shortened, add notes to links (so you can remember why you wanted to send people to a particular link to begin with), and curate “bundles” or a collection of links on your own or collaboratively with others. You can even see statistics on how many people have clicked on or viewed your shortened links and customize their URLs.

Quizlet is an online learning tool that allows you create and study flashcard sets. Using the flashcard sets, students can learn in six different study modes: Flashcards (flip through the material), Scatter (match words to their definitions), Speller (type what you hear), Space Race (type words before their definitions vanish off screen), Learn (track your progress over time) and Test (graded quiz).

You can create flashcard sets in a number of foreign languages and can also have words be matched with Creative Commons images. Quizlet is free, but paid accounts are also available if you want access to features like the ability to upload your own images, to remove ads for your students, and to create an unlimited amount of classes. An iOS (no Android, sorry) app is also available.

Keep-Tube is another site that is very similar to KeepVid and lets you download YouTube videos straight from its website (i.e., there is no additional software you need to install). The website does run on Java, however, so you will need to have that installed to be able to download videos. Simply copy and paste the URL of the YouTube video you want to download into the blue bar at the top of the page and click on the Download by URL button. A Java pop-up window will appear asking you if you want to run the Java applet. Click Run to continue. Then, you will be able to choose from several different video formats in which to download the YouTube video including 3gp, flv, webm and mp4. Keep-Tube also allows you to download just the audio for the YouTube video in mp3 and aac format.